Pilot House struggling to stay above water

The Pilot House shelter in Hyannis has kept many a homeless man from sinking further.

Edward F. Maroney

CAC seeks support from town, private sources

The Pilot House shelter in Hyannis has kept many a homeless man from sinking further. Now the program itself is in danger of slipping deeper into debt.

On May 23, Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands board chair Dave Willard and Betsy Fontes, CAC’s director of shelter programs and social services, laid out the situation for the town’s affordable housing/growth & development trust fund board.

Willard said the “socially successful sober house” has “not been successful financially.” Fontes said residents pay a minimal rent and for their food, and the Duffy Center provides services and other contributions, but Pilot House is three months behind in its rent. Federal stimulus funds have run out, and the CAC itself is facing a restructuring due to decreased funding.

Willard and Fontes were looking for transitional financial support for Pilot House, which is credited with helping to improve the quality of life in downtown Hyannis. Fontes said closure of Pilot House would dislocate 21 residents.

CAC and others have been working on private fundraising, according to Fontes, who said the program has won a $4,400 grant from the Town of Harwich. But CAC, said Willard, “has been robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

The CAC’s request was for $100,000 “for operational costs,” according to the agenda. Acting Town Manager Tom Lynch, who chairs the trust fund board, and other department heads said they recognized the value of Pilot House but observed that the trust fund is not set up to pay for operational costs.

Fontes said the building’s landlord, Tom George, has been patient regarding rent payments but does not want to sell the building. Willard said he would talk with him this week to discuss options that might make a sale more attractive.

Helping Pilot House secure a permanent home is something that the town trust fund could support, after members review a business plan that Willard promised to deliver shortly. Other locations are an option as well.

“We could help them buy a building,” Growth Management Director Jo Anne Miller Buntich said. “Pilot House is important for the social fabric, and economic development downtown.”

What the town is looking for, said Lynch, “is a recovery plan.” That might mean, he said, serving fewer people for a time.